If you ship goods into or out of the country you will be susceptible for an potential freight audit at some point, based upon the filings you make declaring duty and excise tax when you enter into the country. The process can be difficult to maneuver though and it is important to gain an understanding of what exactly is included in a freight audit so that you know what steps you need to take.
A freight audit
What happens when you get a freight audit is basically that a governmental agency reviews your filings made where you are claiming excise and duty on items that you are importing into the country and then determine if you reported the proper rates on these items. If they find errors they will look into the cause of the problem and see if it was due to pure error or if it was related to a fraud of one kind or another. The amount of penalties that they charge to you will be impacted by the factors that led to findings themselves.
After errors and issues are found by the reviewing body you will have a chance to respond to those comments or the ability to contest them. Sometimes you will have to consider the remediation efforts that you will need to put in place to avoid future violations and the regulating body will agree to review those new internal controls and re-audit you in the future to make sure that you are complying with the appropriate regulatory bodies.
Regardless, it is essential that you receive appropriate legal counsel when being represented for your freight audit. Be sure to choose a firm that has a lot of experience in these transactions and can help to minimize the penalties that you are hit with upon investigation.
A freight audit
What happens when you get a freight audit is basically that a governmental agency reviews your filings made where you are claiming excise and duty on items that you are importing into the country and then determine if you reported the proper rates on these items. If they find errors they will look into the cause of the problem and see if it was due to pure error or if it was related to a fraud of one kind or another. The amount of penalties that they charge to you will be impacted by the factors that led to findings themselves.
After errors and issues are found by the reviewing body you will have a chance to respond to those comments or the ability to contest them. Sometimes you will have to consider the remediation efforts that you will need to put in place to avoid future violations and the regulating body will agree to review those new internal controls and re-audit you in the future to make sure that you are complying with the appropriate regulatory bodies.
Regardless, it is essential that you receive appropriate legal counsel when being represented for your freight audit. Be sure to choose a firm that has a lot of experience in these transactions and can help to minimize the penalties that you are hit with upon investigation.